I was always interested in names and theirs meanings and origins, but I became truly obsessed when we were trying to have a baby. We came up with all kinds of silly names and agreed on one real name for a girl. We never agreed on a boy name. I have over a dozen name books.
Never had or wanted kids, but if I had given birth to a girl her name would have been Morgan Faye. Never chose a boy’s name.
I’ve had a (longish) list since I was 10. Many have been added over the years, few taken away. I like classical names.
The only other young childless person I’ve met who also does this is my boyfriend. Hah.
Back when we thought we might have some, I swore I would name a girl Calliope Jane and a boy Mycroft Holmes. On the whole, probably just as well we didn’t have them. In fact, that might be the reason.
On the upside, these are great cat names I intend to use one day.
President Thor and Bombay Robot.
What?
If my current husband and I were to reproduce (we won’t) make a boy (which won’t happen) and follow the current naming tradition that goes back forever in his family, his (our) hypothetical kid would be: Sigismund Douglas Oskar Lastname. I love this. I love it a lot. I totally want a boy that I can cally Siggy.
It’s probably best we don’t reproduce.
My own real kid was named long before I met his dad (who is not now my current husband.) His name is the combo of the last names of my grandfather and my father, who have crappy boring first names. The last name, which was soooo class 19th century when I was in HS was the 10th most popular boys name the year he was born. I named him that anyway.
Ebenezer.
Yes, and their nicknames as well. It’s getting ever more unlikely that I’ll have kids, but if I do, I know what they should be called.
Many times. Any list seems to be more evolutionary than static.
Chewbacca. Works for a boy or a girl.
My husband and I picked out names the year we were married, but our son wasn’t born for eight years.
One of the things I like about being an author is that I can use many of the names I like but wasn’t able to give a child.
I adopted my kids so they came with names. Being pregnant several times I wanted:
William Allen for a boy (my father’s name and my grandfather’s name)
Evelyn Arletta for a girl (my mom’s first name and my husband’s mom’s first name. Both of them go by their middle names)
We settled on:
William Ross (My dad’s name and the middle name of every boy in my husband’s family)
Elizabeth Lynn (Elizabeth as it’s a classic and can be shortened in many ways as she became an individual. Lynn because it is a very common middle name in both families.)
Luckily, the goofball and my little princess came with wonderful names that, while they might not be what I had chosen, are perfect for them.
Husband and I started talking names as soon as we started trying for a baby. We settled on a girl’s name fairly quickly, but have only recently come to agree(ish) on a boy’s name.
Part of the problem is that 1) Most boy’s names are boring 2) It’s important to me that at least one of the names be a family name and 3) Both Husband and I hate the whole last-name-as-a-first-name trend (Hunter, Taylor, McEnzie, etc)
That said, we’ve recently discovered that we may be expecting twins (!) and they’re probably identical (!!), so we need to come up with one more of each. The discussion continues apace…
:smack:
…Will someone please inform my husband that Saladin is not workable for a 3/4 white, 1/4 Filipino, non-Muslim boy in 20th century America?
If the SDMB had a “Like” button, I’d be using it right now.
Sounds okay to me.
OK, being saddled with a name like ‘Gagundathar’ led me into many a schoolyard fight.
So, my dear beloved and I decided that even though it was a family name and not naming our firstborn after me would enrage my maternal-unit (and by enrage, I mean planetary bombardment from directed asteroids), we decided upon the name Aloysius Murgatroyd.
That has not worked out as well as we hoped.
Sure, just as soon as someone tells President Obama that “Hussein” is not workable for a president in, um, 21st-century America. 
Wait! Are you saying that Mr. Obama’s middle name is ‘Hussein’?
Holy crap! That’s an ‘e’ before an ‘i’.
And… we elected him?
Remind me please, who was he running against?
Well, hell, just noticed this response. 
No chance you’d take a date with a guy using a fake name, eh?
I don’t mind the name Robert on myself-- sounds better than similar names of similar vintage, like Cuthbert, Hubert, Rupert, Philbert, … okay, maybe not Albert-- and am very glad that because of permutations on my upper family tree, I got to keep the more formal original variant instead of being stuck with a Bob or Robby. Robert’s a little more distinguished IMO from its diminutives.
But, FFS, my family just needs to let it go. It’s almost as bad as the name Charles for us (which is my middle name), as it also goes back as far as anyone can trace the family tree. My uncle Bob’s son Bobby has a Bobby Jr. and a Charles, son Jeff has a Charles, daughter Darcy has a Robbie. At least retire them for a generation, then let grandchildren pick it up as a retro name…